Does Justin Theroux Really Sleep Naked on Airplanes?

Picture this: You’re on a cross-country flight. You just finished your complimentary snack, the cabin lights have dimmed, and you’re ready to catch some zzzs. What do you do next? Most travelers would plug in their headphones, lean back, and drift into a nap. Not Justin Theroux, though. He prefers to get a bit more comfortable.

Here’s some backstory for you. The White House Plumbers actor once admitted to undressing mid-air on Jason Bateman’s podcast, SmartLess. Tabloids, of course, picked up the story, claiming he slept naked on flights. The truth is, Theroux wasn’t fully clothed—more on that soon—but the man isn’t a nudist. In an Esquire’s new digital cover story featuring Theroux and Woody Harrelson, the 51-year-old clears things up once and for all.

“I said this on the SmartLess podcast,” Theroux says, reflecting on the tabloid incident. “I had recently gotten a call from my publicist where she said, ‘A tabloid is asking about you. They’re saying you’re a nudist on airplanes.’ It was hilarious. And I was toying with the idea of issuing a statement, something funny like ‘Look, my body, my choice.’ So I’m relaying this story to host Jason Bateman—I said, ‘Yeah, so I got this thing this week and they’re maybe going to run a story that I go naked on airplanes’—and he goes, ‘Yeah, but you do go naked on airplanes.’ I’m like, ‘What?!’”

According to the actor, the nudist angle is far from the truth. He did partially undress on that flight, but not all the way down to his birthday suit. “Jason and I had flown from Los Angeles to London on one of those twelve-hour-long flights overnight and he reminded me [on the podcast] that after they shut down all the lights and everything was quiet in the airplane—and we’re in little pods we’re not in 38J—I had taken some clothes off,” Theroux says. “I think I took my shirt off and maybe my pants. But I was definitely wearing something under that. And I tucked in and went to sleep.”

He continues: “Jason came over to me at one point and said, ‘Hey man, what are you doing?!’ He was in the full pajamas—like, the slippers and a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. I’m like, ‘I’m going to sleep! No one is going to see!’ And I had a blanket!’ So anyway, it was actually correct that I was essentially sleeping naked on the airplane, but not really naked.”

Well, there you have it. Theroux is not a nudist. Not really, anyway. Some may say undressing defies airplane etiquette, but according to Theroux, anything goes when you’re trying to catch some sleep. “I mean, look,” he exclaims. “If it’s a long-haul sleeping flight…I’m not going to fall asleep in my jean jacket!”